Chicken Alfredo Pasta (Tex Mex Style)

Love chicken alfredo pasta? You’ll love it even more with this Tex-Mex twist!

I really wanted to try something unique for dinner the other night, so I checked my list of recipe requests and this one really jumped out at me.

A plate of pasta piled high with whole grain noodles, plenty of cheesy alfredo sauce, delicious chunks of chicken and of course, some Tex Mex toppings like tomatoes and avocados. Yum!

It’s a tiny bit time-consuming (about an hour), but it’s fairly simple to make and completely delicious. The only thing to remember is to keep the sauce warm (not hot) and pour it on just prior to serving. It cools and thickens pretty quickly. But outside of that, this was so yummy!

HOW TO MAKE CHICKEN ALFREDO PASTA

Making this pasta is not hard. Especially with my secret ingredients, cottage cheese! Using cottage cheese totally cuts down on fat and calorie intake. You can use regular or low fat, it’s up to you. Just be aware that the lower in fat it is, the more processed it is. But the choice is yours. Both will work in this recipe.

The trick is to get the cottage cheese to melt. Keep a close eye on it and stir frequently. It’s not difficult. You just have to watch it closely.

I know using cottage cheese may sound gross to some people, but at the end of the day, it’s cheese! (more or less). It’s high in protein, low in fat, and it makes the most wonderful creamy sauces once you get the hang of working with it. I promise, you won’t regret it!

A side view of this Chicken Alfredo Pasta shows the pasta, sauce, chicken and toppings such as tomatoes and avocado.

Note that this recipe assumes that you have already cooked your pasta. Also, the toppings are totally your choice. I give you suggestions in the recipe, but what you use is totally up to you and is not included in the nutrition data given below (which is not exact, just for the record.) I do my best to give you nutrition data that is as accurate as possible, but at the end of the day, I’m reliant on the food calculator I use, and those are not always accurate. So use those numbers as a ballpark figure!

At any rate, this sauce is rich, creamy, and definitely less work than making regular, high-fat alfredo sauce. Enjoy!

MORE HEALTHY PASTA RECIPES:

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CHICKEN ALFREDO PASTA (TEX-MEX STYLE):

Clean Eating Chicken Tex Mex Alfredo Pasta

Chicken Alfredo Pasta (Tex Mex Style)

A delicious twist to a comfort food classic.
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Course: Main Course, Pasta
Cuisine: Tex Mex
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 30 minutes
Total Time: 40 minutes
Servings: 8 servings
Calories: 193kcal

Ingredients

  • ½ lb. cooked whole grain pasta
  • 1 ½ lb. boneless, skinless chicken breasts (3 breasts – shredded or cubed)

Sauce Ingredients

  • 16 oz. container cottage cheese
  • ½ cup salsa (no sugar added)
  • tsp. ground cumin
  • tsp. chili powder

Topping Suggestions:

  • tomatoes (fresh, chopped)
  • avocado (fresh, chopped)
  • cilantro (fresh, chopped)
  • olives (black, sliced)
  • cheddar cheese (hand grated)

Instructions

  • In a double boiler, liquify the cottage cheese, stirring frequently. With some brands, this may not happen completely. You'll still have small chunks of cottage cheese left. But that's okay. You'll be blending it anyway.
  • Put the warm cottage cheese and the rest of the sauce ingredients in a blender and blend until smooth. If you feel the sauce is too thick, feel free to add a splash or two of milk until you reach your desired constancy.
  • In a large mixing bowl, combine your pasta, chicken and any toppings you'd like to add. Mix well.
  • Put your pasta mix on a plate and pour some sauce over the top to serve. Serve quickly as the sauce cools off fast.
  • NOTE: If using avocados, you may want to top the sauce with the avocado as mixing it in can make it rather mushy.

Notes

Please note that the nutrition data given here is a ballpark figure. Exact data is not possible.

Nutrition

Serving: 1serving | Calories: 193kcal | Carbohydrates: 11g | Protein: 26g | Fat: 5g | Saturated Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 64mg | Sodium: 421mg | Potassium: 432mg | Fiber: 2g | Sugar: 2g | Vitamin A: 192IU | Vitamin C: 1mg | Calcium: 60mg | Iron: 1mg

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27 Comments

  1. Jessica_AKitchenAddiction says:

    Love the flavors in this pasta dish! My family would eat this up in no time!

    1. graciouspantry says:

      Awesome! I hope you enjoy it!

  2. Just curious if you can taste the cottage cheese in the sauce. I don’t really like cottage cheese but it seems like with the salsa it’s probably overpowered by it. Also, what is a double broiler? Thanks for your insight!

    1. graciouspantry says:

      Double boiler is a pot that sits inside another pot that has water in it. I didn’t think the cottage cheese could be tasted at all. But that’s just my take on it. I like cottage cheese…

  3. Oh, my, does this look delicious!

  4. graciouspantry says:

    Just put two pots together. Fill the bottom one with water about 1/4 full.

  5. graciouspantry says:

    Awesome! I hope you enjoy it!

  6. Could you use greek yogurt to get the same effect as cottage cheese?

    1. graciouspantry says:

      No, it would be very different.

  7. Margaret Gurney says:

    Not sure if I’m understanding what is happening with the cottage cheese. Does it drip through and do you blend it with the water below? If so how much water is the correct amount? Thank you.

    1. graciouspantry says:

      No. There’s no dripping through. You want to warm it. Almost like melting cheese on the stove top, only it doesn’t melt completely on it’s own (depending on the brand you use), which is why you blend it.

  8. graciouspantry says:

    Heather – I’m not sure there are any cottage cheese brands that are technically clean. But most clean eaters eat it anyway because it’s a good, lean source of protein. I always opt for the low fat version from Trader Joe’s. But I’m sure whatever Krogers has is fine.

  9. graciouspantry says:

    Awesome! So glad you enjoyed it!

  10. graciouspantry says:

    This one pretty much stands on it’s own, though a salad with it would be nice. Enjoy!

  11. graciouspantry says:

    Haha!!! I’m glad it all worked out!

  12. Pingback: Clean Eating Recipes | Clean Eating Avocado Pesto Alfredo
  13. Love, love, love this… This is going to be a regular in my meal planning and may be my favorite recipe of yours (so far, at least). Thanks you! Off to share this…

    1. The Gracious Pantry says:

      Glad you enjoyed it! 🙂

  14. So sad. This totally didn’t work for me. I melted my cottage cheese, but it just separated into a liquid and then a cheese ball. So disappointed – I have no idea what went wrong 🙁

    1. The Gracious Pantry says:

      It’s nothing you did. Since I posted this recipe, I’ve learned that the brand of cottage cheese makes all the difference. The problem is, I’m not sure which brands are balling up and separating. Can you tell me which brand you used? The one that worked from me was the organic from Trader Joe’s.

  15. I absolutely LOVED this! I made this for my husband and mother-in-law last night and they enjoyed it also! (They’re not much of the clean eating type lol). I just used the low fat Publix band cottage cheese and it seemed to work just fine! I actually brought the heat up to a low boil then turned it down to medium low and I got the consistancy that I needed and everything seemed to melt pretty good. This one is going in the recipe box for sure!! I am really liking this eating clean stuff thanks to you!! 🙂

    1. The Gracious Pantry says:

      Lauren – Fabulous!! So glad you all enjoyed it! 🙂

  16. Going to try this next week sounds yummy just nervous about the cottage cheese

    1. The Gracious Pantry says:

      Corina – It can be a little temperamental. Just watch the heat, you don’t want it too high. Outside of that, it will all depend on the brand used. I got mine at Trader Joe’s. It’s their organic version with the brown label.

  17. Please post any Mexican dishes you can think of. It’s my favorite food:)